Backfilling the Septic System
Sat, Sep 8, 2018Today should be exciting. We are conducting an experiment to see how well we can operate a skid steer. It’s not cheap to have, Pete, our professional excavator come out. He does a great job, but since all we need to do is move some material, it doesn’t make a lot of financial sense. So let’s see how well my brother can drive a skid steer with just some YouTube video training!
Last night, the rental company called us and told us the skid steer we were going to be getting (it had tracks) is not going to be available in time, and instead we will be getting one with tires. On a hilly, rocky terrain, tires can make maneuvering a skid steer kinda dangerous. The whole thing wants to tip forward when going down a hill, and as we’ll find out soon, when going up a hill, it bounces violently when the tires hit a rock.
We’ve got a dump truck load of pea gravel, and two more of fill-dirt coming today. The plan is to backfill all the piping, and the septic tank. I don’t think we will have time or material to backfill the drain field.
Before we start backfilling, we are laying a line of PEX from our build pad, down to the lower level terrace. We may put a firepit down here, and if we do, we want running water nearby. This was a simple enough task. ¾” PEX is stiff but still pretty flexible. We just anchor it down with a few rocks when we need a bend (until we start backfilling).
We also laid some 1” conduit for a future run of electrical wire(s). Maybe to power some lights, or a wifi access point. For now, we’ll just leave a pull line in the conduit, and we can pull the wire through later. This conduit was solvent welded so it keeps any moisture out, and it terminates at a vertical culvert pipe, which will likely be enclosed in some kind of light post later.
With the conduit and PEX laid, we started backfilling. First a few inches of pea gravel. This will protect the various pipes from any larger rocks that settle on top, and then our fill dirt. We’re only putting the native ‘soil’ back once we have these two layers because most of it is actually large fragments of rock. We want to keep that a ways away from the pipes.
Operating the skid steer has been manageable. We are moving a lot slower than Pete would have. My brother is getting covered in dust. This skid steer does not have an enclosed cockpit, so everytime he dumps a load of dirt, he gets a blast of dust, and has no way to avoid it. I am spreading and tamping the dirt, but while he dumps it, I am able to walk away until the dust clears. Still, we’re both wearing dust masks.
It’s hot out. Not as hot as it was back in July when we were laying a lot of this pipe, but still hot enough to get a nice layer of sweat going so the dust has something to stick to. It’s also too hot to wear pants. Working around loose dirt and dust in shorts is frustrating and uncomfortable. I’ve got dirt in my boots, and nice layer of it built up around my ankle for good measure. But I hardly notice any of it because we’re on the downhill side of completing our first major development on this place!
Structural Components Visit
Chris, from Structural Components, our roof truss manufacturer, stopped by to say hello, and to see if his delivery guys could navigate our driveway. I really appreciate him stopping by and it makes me feel like we’ve selected another solid contractor to work with us on this project.
After some chit chat and a good look at the driveway, he was pretty sure the driveway would not be accessible to the delivery trucks. He will send a delivery guy up next week to double check (this delivery guy confirmed he would not be able to back down our driveway safely). The trusses weigh about 120 pounds at most, so this may be something we hand carry to the build site. We can also rent a telehandler (like a forklift with big wheels) to move them if we wanted to be a bit lazier.
We finished out the weekend getting the trench entirely backfilled, and some of the septic tank pit too. We ran out of fill and called it an early weekend.
Next Post > > < < Previous Post